During a BYU-Idaho forum on Thursday, actress, comedian and show host Lisa Valentine Clark inspired students with her life and career experiences. Here are some of the biggest takeaways.

1. "Creativity is our identity."

According to Clark, creativity is a divine characteristic of God and his children. It is something shared by all people on Earth. More than just art or music, "Creation means bringing into existence something that didn't exist before."

Some might say, "I don't have a creative drop of blood in my body," but Clark gave this rebuttal by Elder Uchtdorf: "You may think you don't have talents, but that is a false assumption. For we all have talents and gifts, every one of us, the bounds of creativity extend far beyond the limits of a canvas or sheet of paper."

We are all able to create amazing things by the unique talents that God has given us, from art to conversations to discovery. Most importantly, we can co-create our own life with God.

2. "The intended life is different than an intentional life."

Life will seldom, if ever, go according to how you plan it. Instead of being so focused on what we want our life to look like, we should instead be intentional about how we live our lives so we can end up where we want and need to.

Living intentionally every day means taking advantage of the moral agency we have been given to act rather than react to what happens to us.

Clark also says, "Pivoting is always necessary." At times, it may be necessary to turn completely around from the expected direction and go to another.

3. "People must have a constant curiosity."

Without curiosity, creativity and growth stall. Without it, we stop observing, stop learning and limit ourselves and our ability to adapt to different circumstances.

How do we cultivate curiosity? Clark says we should actively ask questions, explore "what if" possibilities and examine the stories we tell ourselves.

Curiosity can open our eyes to see new ideas and new perspectives, and they can direct meaningful and purposeful actions every day.

4. The "Yes ... and" principle.

"Yes ... and" is an improv principle that means you accept an offering that you are given on a stage and you roll with it. You don't reject it, but add to it, making it more meaningful and driving the story along.

This also holds true with difficult circumstances in our lives. Clark's husband was diagnosed with ALS in 2016, meaning their lives would never be the same. After his death in 2020, grieving became the biggest part of her life.

However, with time, she was able to use even this to add to her life. She said of the experience, "ALS was a master class in learning to embrace uncertainty and vulnerability."

You can add to your life by putting this principle into practice, too. Accept what life hands you and build on it. Try to practice a 2-minute "Yes ... and" improv conversation with a friend to practice this skill.

5. "Temple worship and receiving revelation are acts of creativity."

Try this: spend time with God this week intentionally. We must be curious to receive revelation, we must be intentional to receive revelation and we must use revelation to add to our lives. Revelation is an act of creativity.

Some of the most important acts of creation in this life involve coming closer to God. Temple worship and receiving revelation are exactly that.

Clark says temple worship, "[is] a creative, artistic expression of our beliefs and hope for and faith in Jesus Christ." And of revelation, "[r]eceiving revelation is like learning a new language, and we need to practice often to become comfortable with it." In both cases, we are creating something that has never before existed.

If we are to take away anything from this forum address, it should be this:

You are creating your life right now. Keep God involved in the process because he is the Master Creator and will help you create your life into something beautiful and currently unimaginable.